Can UK Businesses Adapt To a Technology Shift?

Acording to a leading business group, competition in the technology sector is really starting to heat up, as more and more companies have started investing in technology based assets for their businesses. A recent survey by the CBI (Confederation of British industry) concluded almost half of all UK businesses said they feel technology would fundamentally shift the way their industry works.

More worryingly just over a third of UK businesses said they feel under prepared for the next technology shift, according to the Confederation of British Industry who conducted the survey in association with IBM.

In conclusion the CBI indicated a large digital gap is emerging for those unable or unwilling to adapt to new technological based methods. One in five British companies are now heavily investing in tech, with an average investment of around 42% of marketing budgets being spent on online brand awareness and digital revenue stream based technology. This figure is expected to increase over the coming 12 months.

Technology has to be considered as a factor if the UK is to carry on being an innovation superpower. To be able to thrive then we need to make sure our ground level businesses are making the most of this extra opportunity to have their name heard in the wider online market.

A recent example of technology changing an industry is UBER. They became huge by utilising technology to synchronise a nationwide network of drivers across multiple continents.

Realising that millions of people were doing route finders using Google maps every single day, Uber spotting an opportunity to advertise there is some serious out of the box thinking.

It’s easy enough to ask Google to create a start and end point for a journey & all available routes can be easily shown. From cars, public transport, walking and more recently, an UBER approximate price for your exact journey. You now know who your drivers are, you can see where they are on a map and you can individually rate and review each trip you take

This has only become possible because technology has allowed them to distribute a network of drivers all working together over the length and breadth of the UK.

In terms of scale-ability, UBERs’ UK operation more than doubled last year with revenue exceeding £100m

Forbes Predict There Will Only be 30 Tech companies in 2030

According to a recent article by Forbes magazine, in 2030 there will be 30 tech companies. In 2050 there will be only 10, so why and how could this happen so soon?

Under current analysis, technology, hardware and software all seem to be merging together with a common goal of better usability for the world. Taking a niche market and spreading it across a nation was almost an impossible task only 15-20 years ago, a prime example of this would be record labels for musicians or specialist recruiters for C level candidates. There was always a specialist for the job at hand, and only the specialist was equipped to do it. Nowadays it almost seems like the age of the niche specialist is over, in the same way a blacksmith lost his primary trade to better machine technology and a wider awareness from the public because the information is easily accessible online.

Of a few questions raised with this theory, one seems to dominate the mind which is choice. Does it mean there will be increased choice due to the sheer size and outreach of the 10 or 30 companies involved or does it mean the future beholds a one shoe fits all approach and frankly we don’t need choice? Pressing matters if you ask me.

When you look at these huge companies, Google probably being the best example, yes they are a search engine but they have their hands in almost everything else tech, being involved in numerous space, health, VR and endless other types of companies they pump billions into each year. Not to mention they are the keepers of the SEO handbook, a sought after piece of information which would explain the best indicators for ranking a site high on Google itself. We want innovation to be in the hands of the right people, but without sacrificing our fundamental right to choice, or do we?

Bringing it back to Great Britain poses a serious question, which of these great superpower tech companies belong to us? The answer to that question would be not many.

New Technology Overseas

Recently Dubai announced their new robot police officer. These “friendly” characters have a touchscreen pad on their chest where people can report crimes, pay fines or obtain information by tapping on its chest.

More interestingly the “crimes committed” information collected will be available to local authorities, transport agencies and other businesses operating in the area. This helps in increasing transparency, public knowledge and awareness of incident related issues.

The aim is to spread the police force in a more effective way, deploying more human officers to problem areas to tackle larger problems. We can then have the robotic officers wandering around low crime areas.

In terms of usability the robots are multilingual and can provide information to the general public. They also have the ability to broadcast what they see to a live command centre based nearby. The police are aiming to deliver a more effective police force by only having “bodies” in places where they are essential.

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